Kaishu Sano Could Make Last-Minute Premier League Move — German Report Meets Skepticism on 5ch

From our other sites

The story

German outlet Bild reported on September 1 that a Premier League move may be on the cards for Japan international midfielder Kaishu Sano, currently of Mainz. The transfer fee is said to be around €30 million (roughly ¥5.2 billion), though Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel had previously ruled out a late sale, saying, “We won’t let him go at the end of August — there wouldn’t be time to bring in a replacement.” Europe’s summer transfer window is set to close on September 1 European time (early morning of September 2 in Japan). On the 5ch Geisports Sokuho+ (entertainment/sports news board) thread, users questioned whether the reported fee was too low and wondered whether the story was the kind of unreliable “deadline-day filler” typical of transfer-window silly season.

A possible Premier League move has emerged for Mainz’s Japan international midfielder Kaishu Sano, German newspaper Bild reported on the 1st.

Is Kaishu Sano headed to the Premier League?

Until now, Sano had been widely expected to stay at Mainz through the summer. Indeed, Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel had previously denied a last-minute departure for Sano, telling Bild, “We won’t let him go on August 27 or 28 — if we did, we wouldn’t be able to bring in a replacement.”

Source: footballchannel.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:44
So he's just keeping one foot out the door for now?
8AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:47
Kamada, Tomiyasu, and now Sano Kaishu
Classic panic buy, but there's no time left.
9AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:47
Word is Liverpool are the frontrunners, apparently.
10AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:48
€30 million wouldn't even buy one of Kaishu's legs.
11AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:48
Here comes the 'Notr piggy geezer' losing it again (mocking nickname for a certain type of 5ch poster).
26AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:58
The 'don't do winter transfers' uncle, chiming in with: 'Don't do winter transfers.'
27AnonymousSep 1, 2026 21:59
Is today really the deadline?
Well, it's European time, so it'll run until about 7am Japan time.
28AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:00
Go to City! No Japanese players there yet.
29AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:01
Just write the article once it's actually official.
34AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:06
Is there some kind of pay-the-rest-later deal for the shortfall?
36AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:06
That fee only makes sense for a Premier-to-Premier move, I'd think.
37AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:07
Palace look like relegation candidates on current form.
39AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:10
€30 million is a non-starter.
43AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:12
Wait, Newcastle are letting Woltemade go to Juve too?
Do they even have any players left?
44AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:12
Mainz played hardball right up to the wire
and probably dropped the price anyway.
46AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:14
So in Japan time that's until dawn tomorrow, huh.
48AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:16
The big deals get sorted out first, after all.
56AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:20
Re: #48
Not necessarily
You never know what'll happen at the last minute
Remember Nagatomo's move to Inter? That was wild
Though he tarnished it a bit in his later years.
50AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:17
If there's already a Japanese player there, at least he won't get singled out, right?
54AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:18
This one'll probably fall through, but staying at Mainz wouldn't be bad either
The real problem child is Nakamura down in France's Ligue 2.
55AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:19
No way Mainz sells him at a discount like that with no time left to bring in a replacement.
57AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:22
Mainz probably want something like ¥10 billion for him — this is half that lol
Doesn't seem like Mainz has any reason to rush a sale right now.
58AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:22
Hey, Old Man Wao! Stake your reputation and make the call! lol
60AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:23
They've already got Kamada and Wharton, so what are they even doing?
64AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:27
Does Palace even realize the Asian Cup is coming up?
65AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:31
Even the guys playing abroad get paid miserably little in soccer, huh.
67AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:33
It's already September — transfers are still happening?
70AnonymousSep 1, 2026 22:34
Re: #67
Because of the World Cup, I think the big five leagues' window runs until tomorrow?

Background and Talking Points

Kaishu Sano is a Japan international midfielder who has played for Bundesliga side Mainz since 2023. This report comes from Germany’s Bild, and the key point is its timing — right at the very end of the summer transfer window (so-called deadline day, closing September 1 European time / early morning of the 2nd in Japan). Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel had previously denied any last-minute exit, saying “There’s no time to bring in a replacement, so there won’t be a departure at the end of August,” and many replies focused on how that squares with this new report, along with pointed skepticism that the reported fee of €30 million (roughly ¥4.8 billion) is far too cheap for a key defensive midfielder. Commenters also poked fun at the classic late-window “panic buy” narrative and the way local and Japanese outlets feed off each other’s reporting to hype up these stories, with doubt about the move happening outweighing belief that it will. Note: this article excludes baseless, sexual-crime-related insults directed at a real player that appeared in the original thread.

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Kaishu Sano’s Premier League move resurfaces at the last minute! Mainz offered around ¥5.2 billion?

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *